Photonic Systems Lab
We are pioneering next-generation photonic devices and systems tailored for imaging, communications, and computing.
Photons are the ultimate carriers of information, serving as our primary means of perceiving the world and transmitting information, both through our own eyes and via optical fibers, cameras, sensors, and machine vision. Emerging technologies, including wearable, implantable devices, and autonomous systems, pose stringent requirements on the optical modules in terms of size, weight, power, and performance. Traditional optical systems fall short of these rigorous demands.
To address this gap, our research targets three major areas of technological advancement:
- Innovative Optical Sources: Distributed, ultrafast, and reconfigurable laser arrays.
- Meta-Optics with information processing capabilities.
- Quantum-Enhanced Techniques beyond the classical limits of optical sensing and imaging.
By harnessing the synergy of heterogeneously integrated photonic and microelectronic chips, we explore devices and systems that are not only compact and robust but also scalable in terms of manufacturing.
News
| Feb 20, 2025 | Our PRX paper (by Penn) has been published. It is the first demonstration of high-dimensional quantum key distribution using spin-orbit microlasers (with its emission tunable in a 4-dimensional Hilbert space). Congrats to the team! |
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| Jan 5, 2025 | Our Nature Photonics paper (by Penn) on non-Hermitian hybrid silicon photonic switching is now online. The non-Hermitian switching is enabled by modulating the gain/loss in the active layer (heterogeneously integrated on Si) and hence breaking or conserving the parity-time symmetry. 8x8 switches (and 4x4 with 1470-1510nm multiwavelength input) are demonstrated. The switching dynamics is fast (100 ps). |
| Oct 5, 2024 | Our PRB paper on non-Hermitian gauged reciprocity and symmetry is now online. We theoreticall show that with non-reciprocal coupling, the Lorentz reciprocity is broken but a “non-Hermitian guaged” reciprocity emerges. These non-Hermitian systems are counterintuitive and we are finding new intuitions to guide our understanding of these interesting systems. |
| Jun 29, 2024 | Our elight paper, “Integrated preparation and manipulation of high-dimensional flying structured photons”, is now online. More fun in high-dimensional (SU(4)) spin-orbit space. The entangled photons are generated in a nonlinear crystal and the signal photon is coupled to an integrated chip, where it can be projected on-demand to a state in the 4D Hilbert space (represented by a high-order Poincare sphere (HOPS)), which is a “qudit” with d=4. We also showed a (simple) cluster state. |
| Nov 5, 2023 | Our PRL paper on high-purity generation and switching of twisted single photons is now online. Lots of fun memories with this one especially the thrill to confirm OAM-carrying single photons with an SLM. |